(Chapter 4; No Hombres, No Problems)
Though communication between the other units had never been re established, the mission continued. Surely whatever's happening can be handled by NERV the man thought. Tenting his hands over his mouth, Trump's attention returned to the video feed of unit 00 surveying the dilapidated border fence. In minimal activity mode the eva could remain activated for up to 8 hours. The words rang through his mind, conjuring other applications for the already money-pit that was the 3 evangelions. Though two of them were yet beyond the grasp of his infant like hands. Like the unseen eyes of a god, Trump traced the fence in his mind, picturing a impregnable wall in his mind. 20 feet tall, reinforced concrete panels, no more aliens. He frowned, Not of the mexican variety anyway.
Those who knew the first child knew that she was never bothered. Whether taking orders from a madman or suddenly losing connection with the other pilots, she was not affected. However had anyone seen the inside unit 00's plug there would've been mass hysteria among the transfers. For, at the time the comm disconnected, her lips had curled up into a partial smile, eyes wide and staring into her lap. Slowly bringing her free hand up to her head, she ran her fingers through the sea of blue hairs. Distorted from the lcl and downward tilt of Rei's head, the image relayed would have been a disturbing sight. Large clumps drifted through the blood scented fluids, her pupils had fully dilated giving off an aura of ferality. You were never strong enough, the voice inside spoke. They will see through you, can't hide like this. Whether the voice was truly hers never crossed Rei's mind, for appearing human preoccupied her mind. The weight inside crushed her, as if her flesh boiled inside the plugsuit, a painful reminder that the uphill battle was becoming moreso a wall. It can't wait any longer. Abandon the pain.
It was then that movement outside pulled her attention. Regaining some composure, Rei's eyes moved to the distant horizon beyond the fence where a van could be seen making it's way towards her. Still being a ways away it would unlikely that the vehicle would attempt to cross her perimeter. It will surely turn. She thought, but had already begun to consider the alternative. How would I stop them, this is not the purpose of the evangelions. The commander's words surfaced in her mind, See to it that the evangelions power is not misused. The vehicle stopped before the treeline, throwing a plume of dust into the air. Rei grabbed the yokes and pulled the eva from it's idle state, feeling the giant breath a mechanical breath. Silence. Then eight people got out of the car and started running towards the fence.
Silence, then static: "There they are! Once they cross the fence be ready to intercept." Trump's voice broke the still.
"How am I to stop them Sir, the eva cannot harm a human." Rei's asked through gritted teeth. Though she was ready to act, exactly what she could do without "misusing" the eva was yet to come to her.
"Well, just have it done. Here they come!" Tone bordering on giddiness, Trump could be heard moving about over the audio link. Meanwhile the group of people had reached the border fence, producing a ladder that was placed against the supposedly electrified barrier. Of course it wasn't right now. One started to climb.
Despite the ethical dilemma she faced, Rei activated eva 00 and rose from a crouch, and began to walk towards the perpetrators. The soil gave away under the tonnage of the eva, making each step land heavily and drag through the underbrush. "Now stop them! Two are already over the fence!" The eva was really moving now, clearing the hill as it picked up speed. Three of the obscured figures had now cleared the fence when the fourth called out "ROBOT!". All turned to face the desert camoed monster that pulled the earth upwards with every step. The ladder dropped, leaving only three that had crossed over and the rest started running for the van. Trump's voice flared again. "Yes! Now throw them back!".
The three had started running diagonal to the fence, away from the eva and towards a body of water to the north-west. But as she cleared the 100 meter gap in a few steps, the eva grew silent. "What are you doing! Go after them!" Trump yelled "We can't have these rapists, these drugs coming into our country!" Seething now, he continued his verbal assault onto the pilot. "I ORDER you to stop them!" But Rei, and the eva, remained fixed in place, her eyes staring off into the bubbling amber fluid.
"I cannot" She mouthed, before repeating audibly "I cannot stop them, that is not the evangelion's purpose." "EH! What did you say!" He screeched. Rei repeated herself again, putting a wide frown on the president's face. "That doesn't matter. I'm giving the orders here, and I say to stop the aliens!" Rei's typically stoic expression had turned sour, she was losing patience with the leader of the United-States. Meanwhile the trio of amigos had made it to the lake, moving into the brush that bordered the stagnant water. They were soon out of sight, and then silence came.
A single message relayed before the channel closed. "Return to NERV deployment cages, reconnect to mobile power solution." Thankfully it seems Mattis had commandeered the audio feed before Trump could teach Rei some new vernacular. Exhaling the heated lcl, Rei collapsed back into the seat, spilling over the side and nearly falling off the entry sled. Sighing without a sense of exasperation, she felt relieved. Of course she still had disobeyed orders, something far out of line for her prerogative, but Trump was no commander of hers. Hands combing through her hair once more, little more than flecs of the blue drifted off.
Ego, the wall of a mind. Walls that man built for himself, but I cannot comply. Am I wrong? Is it any more wrong to steal from man than from god. Who is god? Not Adam, or Lilith, but eva. What eva takes is what man has to give.
The voice stirs; Eva stands taller than man or god. But Eva cannot exist without man or his walls. Rei pulls herself back into the pilot's seat as the eva begins its journey back across the desert by dusk's light. It can't be him, can it?
"I'm gonna tear his arms off an' beat him with em!" Tad pumped his fists as stormed down hall, still dripping wet from the post mission shower/debriefing hybrid. A solution that really saved no one time. "And then get a picture, 'cause noone back home will believe me when I tell them I tore the arms off a giant monster."
"Mmmhmm" Gabe mumbled, preoccupied with keeping the towel around his waist. For some reason there was no change of clothes in the locker room. "Can you.. slow down." eyes staying to the floor.
"Yeah, whatever." Tad slowed his pace. "Pasta today or…" "No clue, also I still don't have clothes so we're goin back to the barracks first." Avoiding people in halls was always easy at NERV, by keeping to the breezeways it was pretty rare to catch anyone, lest they be popping out for a smoke.
Seeing a group of them ahead, the boys entered back inside to minimize the stares they'd receive for towel toga-ing through an active military outpost. "You know, I've always wondered why were here in America when all the angel attacks have been in Japan so far. I mean, why even keep any evas anywhere else." Tad turned to face his unclothed comrade.
"That's so true! Now she comes over, and they other is back in germany so there's none in Japan, and three here. It's like they know where the next ange will appear!"
Gabe refixed his towel. "Maybe they know more that. Maybe they know what they'll look like and their abilities." Despite being pilots and having participated in much combat training, they knew little of the angels. The only footage they had been privy to was the fifth and sixth angel, others had been classified. I wonder what the next angel will be like? Gabe's mind ran amuck with possibilities, ranging from a giant rattler to a giant sand worm. He was never the creative type.
"Why don't we ask for the scan data lowkey, that way we can get some idea without setting off the commander again?" Tad asked quizzically. "Better yet, why don't we ask her to do it." Gabe added. Tad's eyes followed his gaze to the intersection ahead where a bob of blue could be seen disappearing around the corner. "How does she get her hair like that? It's bleu and wiry."
"The eyes, Tad, she's albino." Tad starred his friend down "Albinos don't have blue hair, moron."
Gabe shrugged, gripping his towel as he jogged to catch up with the girl.
When it came down to it, Trump couldn't be happier about the the events of the past few days. A well needed break from running this damn country. He thought, though going golfing in florida was his prefered passtime, he didn't mind being caught up in some exciting militaristic opportunity to oneup the japanese once again was always welcome. Still though, this mexican problem is getting more irritating, they won't pay for it and these toys ruined the budget. He frowned, and then there's those two that made it over. Damn insubordinates, not obeying orders. Sighing loudly, he stands up and begins to make his way to the plane's bar. "I'll find a way to make things work, for the good people who elected me." The tired man had only started to fill his glass when he became aware of the crimson eyes boring a hole in his back.
"How'd you get here?" Though her silent entry was startling, his tone was relaxed.
"I encountered no difficulties making my way here." She stood by the door, shoulders slung low and still garbed in the lcl-caked plugsuit.
Security must be dragging their asses. He thought, nearly aloud. "Well, why are you here then? Cause' if holston sent you to lecture me about how protecting humanity is more important than electoral promises I'll get security to haul you out." He swirled the nondescript beverage around the glass as he spoke.
Rei still hadn't moved, or blinked since she was spotted. Faintly, she spoke. "I came to apologise for disobeying my orders. I was out of line." Her eyes still staked forward, burning in red."
" I don't care" Trump waved his hand to second the dismissal. "I shouldn't have expected someone with no record of training to follow orders." This shocked her, though it did not show.
He didn't care, as he commanded the greatest achievement of mankind, as if on a whim. Though expressionless, thoughts clouded her eyes of blood. Acting as though my failure was of no consequence to his amusement. Rei was caught in her mind once more.
"Now go. Dismissed." Rei was pulled from the edge once more, not registering his words. "I said all's good, now go on, get changed aswell cause' you smell pretty bad." He was back to rambling.
" I don't have a change of clothes .I will shower and go to sleep." she nearly whispered, Trump's presence overpowering her very existence. When he was around it's as if other people didn't exist. Feeling invisible was normal for Rei, though it had never bothered her. From drifting through terminal dogma to visit Ikar to walking past the presidential guard without any second glances, it was a practical skill. Though emotional intricacies were not Rei's forte, everything about her current sticky and disheveled state was sad. Trump's gaudy smile faded, replaced with a forced look of sympathy. It didn't fit his face. He stared at the girl, before moving his hand up to her head, plucking a neural connector from her hair.
"What are these-" A large wad of hair came out with it. "Well..." Rei's stare locked on the blue clump in his hands, she began to tremble slightly. Grabbing her wrist in her opposite hand to still the reaction, she turned to leave. That's not enough. The voice spoke, she stopped moving. Frozen by the promise of pain to come, she waited.
"That's enough!" Face lighting up, he reached out and grabbed the waif's shoulder. "You're sick, underweight, and lacking almost all assertiveness! For god's sake you don't even own a single set of clothes." He pulled her back unintentionally as he whirled around for dramatic effect. "Your guardian back in japan was disgusting! To leave you high and dry without the most basic of healthcare or worldly possessions." Though the movement was unexpected, it wasn't very quick and wouldn't have resulted in much of anything, for a normal person. Rei on the other hand crumpled below her own weight, knees giving out at the slightest stress. "AND I WILL PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT Y-"
Trump didn't get to finish his tirade, for the girl being verbally bombarded collapsed into him.
Well then. the voice seemed to say.
Rei felt awash with a very familiar sensation, for though the president had caught her before she cratered, he had done so by placing a similarly sized hand on her breast. Unlike the first time however, Trump recoiled from the contact and Rei was able to catch herself before hitting the floor. He kept facing away as Rei pulled herself back onto her feet. They both caught their breath.
"You'll be having regular health checkups from now on." Said in such a way that invoked a sense leadership. "And before tomorrow is over you will have new clothes. My wife has a line of clothing yknow."
"Yes sir" she managed before making her way out of the plane, forgetting the neural connector that had come out before the commotion began. Shortly the colour drained from her face, she wasn't used to such intensity in her daily interactions, compounded with piloting for a whole day, she was wiped. As she walked by the security camped outside the jet, she met gazes with Gabe and Tad, who had been 'intercepted' by the presidential guard lurking about near the hangar. One of whom, had only a towel on.
(End of Chapter 4)
Happy easter!
Have some soft characterisms, cause next time things will get a little out of hand, might even need that M rating but i'll try and soften the blow. Next time on Beyond the wall of a heart; Godrays: on